17 women dead as fishing boat capsizes in central Senegal

Dakar: A Senegalese radio station says 17 women have drowned and at least 40 others are injured after their boat capsized near a village in central Senegal. A traditional wooden boat overturned near the coastal town of Bettenty on Monday night, with 72 on board, all except two of them women, said Commander Oumar Kane, a senior official with Senegal's national firefighters. Private station RFM says the boat was carrying at least 60 people who had gone to gather oysters yesterday in the waters off Bettenty village. RFM says the injured were treated at a health outpost that had only a nurse and midwife. Senegal's central region is made up of a number of small islands and villages. Residents often travel by small fishing boats, rarely wearing life vests. AGENCIES